US Patent 10523963 Method and apparatus for merge mode in video coding

An apparatus and method for generating a merge candidate list for encoding or decoding of a video sequence includes performing a first search round. A first set of motion vector predictors associated with a set of adjacent spatial candidate blocks (A, B, C, D, and E) is identified based on the first search round. An n-th search round is performed. An n-th set of motion vector predictors associated with a set of non-adjacent spatial candidate blocks (Ai, Bi, Ci, Di, and Ei) is identified based on the n-th search round. The merge candidate list is generated using the first set of motion vector predictors and the n-th set of motion vector predictors.